Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Cinematic Universe, Buffyverse or anything else you may recognize
Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed or reviewed this fic so far.
Guest: I actually think John was trying his best in Episode 2, and even thought Bucky and Sam could cut him some slack, but eventually, he is definitely not right for being Captain America. Sam should be Captain America, and honestly, even Lemar is a better choice than Walker is.
Chapter 7- Return to New York
After a day, the Avengers had decided to head to New York again to decide the next course of action.
Natasha and Clint were piloting the jet while the rest were simply sitting glumly.
Steve was looking around at everyone and then at Natasha and Clint. Thor and Bruce sat next to each other, grief and anger in their eyes.
Rhodes simply had his head in his hands.
Buffy and Xander were both holding Dawn. She needed them, which is why they were not breaking down again.
Logan stood in the jet, looking at the others glumly.
Even Natasha and Clint were barely holding up. The only reason they were was because they were driving the Quinjet.
Buffy then gave Xander a look and nod, and he nodded back as she walked to Steve. "Hey Cap."
"Buffy", he said neutrally.
"Sorry about what I said yesterday", she told him.
"It's all right", Steve assured, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We all lost, some more than others. You don't need to apologize for you chose to mourn."
"Still, I never should have taken it out on you, I'm sorry", Buffy said genuinely.
"Can't change the past, but we must change the future, find the Stones and Thanos with them", Steve told her and she nodded.
Then Buffy thought of something and asked. "I know you're headed to New York, but can you drop me at LA? I'll call you when I'm done."
"Steve!" Natasha suddenly called out as Steve ran up to her.
"What is it?" Steve asked.
"Someone filed a report saying they found a guy matching Fury's description in Los Angeles!" Clint said.
"Los Angeles?" Steve asked and they nodded as everyone else's attention was drawn too.
"Pulling up traffic cam footage now." Clint said, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice.
As Thor, Bruce, Buffy, Xander, Dawn, Rhodes and Logan walked to them, Natasha pulled up the footage. In the footage, Fury and Hill ran out after avoiding a crashing car and looked at people disintegrating. Then Hill disintegrated as Fury ran to his car and taking out a pager, pressed a button before turning to dust too.
"What is that?" Steve asked.
"A pager." Clint noted.
Steve paused, shared a look with Buffy, and then said, "Take us to Los Angeles! We need to find out about this."
The two nodded.
The Lighthouse
"Governments are in shambles, more people have been killed by accidents resulting from the Snap." Mack said as all the remaining agents entered the Lighthouse again, "There's chaos all around, sir."
But Coulson didn't reply as he, Mack, Fitz and Simmons looked at the tall, blonde woman in front of them.
"Bobbi?" Mack asked in shock.
"Mack." She greeted with a nod before turning to Coulson, "Sir."
She then noticed Fitz and Simmons moving to her as the former asked in concern, "What happened?"
Bobbi struggled to speak as Daisy realized, "Hunter….?"
"Turned to dust." Bobbi said brokenly with tears as all looked at her, their greatest sympathies going out to their friend.
Fitz gave her a hug which she returned, sobbing into her friend's shoulder as Simmons put a hand on Bobbi's shoulder while the other just watched in concern and sympathy.
When Bobbi was done, Coulson looked at them grimly and said, "It's Thanos."
"The warlord the Confederacy was talking about?" Simmons asked, "Who Talbot wanted to beat?"
"Yes, Simmons. That same guy." Coulson said. "His lackeys showed up in New York a while ago, and then this happened."
"Not a coincidence." Fitz said in agreement, "So what should we do, sir?"
Coulson looked down, deep in thought. He was like that for at least a minute or two. Simmons put a hand on his shoulder, prompting him with a "Sir?"
Coulson looked up and opened his eyes to look at his team and said, "I have to face my past now."
The four looked puzzled for a moment before it registered what he was saying.
"You're going to meet the Avengers?" Mack asked and he nodded.
"But it's been so long since you were brought back, sir!" Fitz pointed out, "Are you ready to face them all?"
Coulson gave the four a determined look and said, "I owe them that much after everything that has happened."
Los Angeles, Hyperion, night
Hyperion, night.
"Trust me, you're still you", Cordelia told Matt as they held hands while walking back to the Hyperion behind the others. They weren't together anymore, but they still cared about each other.
"I don't trust myself anymore", Matt sighed.
"Look, just because you have a Demon doesn't mean you're bad, Angel also has a Demon inside of him, but we all love him, so do I", Cordelia told Matt who nodded with a smile. "New York or LA, I'll be there for you."
"It goes both ways", Matt assured her as she smiled too. "Though I wonder if I'm still a good Catholic in spite of my Devilish side."
The two chuckled as Angel pushed to the front as they got to the doors leading into the hotel itself.
Angel smiled. "Okay. Can I say it? I wanna say it."
Wesley asked. "Say what?"
Angel pushed the double doors open, walking into the lobby. "There's no place like..."
He trailed off as he saw Buffy sitting hunched up on one of the chairs in the lobby. Angel's smile vanished as Buffy looked up at him.
"Buffy?" Angel questioned in shock.
Matt could hear her heart beating a little faster than a heart normally would, and based on the salt he smelt, she'd been crying. Something had happened.
Cordelia asked. "What's..?"
Buffy slowly got up, never taking her eyes off Angel.
Angel quietly realized. "It's bad. It's really bad."
Few hours later, New York, Avengers Compound
Buffy had brought Matt and Team Angel as well, and Fred had looked around at everything in the Quinjet and Tower in awe, curling herself, while Angel, Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn had looked awed too.
Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn had been awed at meeting the Avengers too.
"Oh my God! Captain America! And Black Widow!" Cordelia had said.
"Big fan, War Machine", Gunn had said himself.
"Honored to meet you all", Wesley had said as well.
Angel, Wesley and Cordelia had also been shocked on seeing Clint.
"What's the matter? Something wrong with my face?" Clint had asked, annoyed.
"Nothing, you just look like someone I knew", Angel had replied, clearly freaked out.
"Whoa! Hawkeye looks exactly like a Vampire", Cordelia had said to Angel. "He isn't one, right?"
"No, I'd know", Angel told her.
"The resemblance in uncanny", Wesley had agreed with a nod.
Matt had been silent in comparison.
Rhodes had then comforted a hysterical Pepper as well on reaching the Tower.
Steve found Natasha sitting glumly on a chair in her room and remembered he hadn't said much to her, which brought him guilt.
He knocked at the door and she looked up, giving him a nod as he walked in.
Sitting next to her, he asked, "I know it's a stupid question, but how are you holding up?"
Natasha looked at him and asked, "How do you think?"
Holding her hands comfortingly he said, "Oh Nat! I am so sorry I didn't talk to you earlier! You needed me!"
"It's all right." She assured, "Others did too."
"That's no excuse." He said to her, "Bucky is my best friend. And I know how much you love him."
"It's just so hard to believe…." She trailed off, "One moment, we are together and happy and another, he is gone."
"Trust me, I can't believe it either." Steve said, "Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky. I was so happy when he finally came back to us and joined the team on his own free will. And now…."
The two friends held each other's hands, trying to offer comfort.
And then, she allowed her dam to break as Steve wrapped her in a hug, comforting her over her losses while trying to comfort himself too.
After a few minutes, she let herself go and wiped her tears, nodding at Steve in thanks as Angel walked into the room.
"The others are trying to find out how many people were killed." He said.
They nodded and got up, following him into the room where Clint was, looking at holograms, noting down the global casualties of the incident.
"Trillions." Clint said sadly, "The monster killed trillions of people."
"Men, women, children, babies, they just turned to dust." Wesley said, a dangerous edge to his voice.
"And the resulting accidents are killing even more." Cordelia noted to them. "Jackass didn't think about that when he talked about his balance."
"This is a nightmare." Steve said as he listened to them and watched the list of casualties.
"I've had better nightmares." Natasha said.
"Why is this happening?" Fred was muttering, curled up in a corner. "This was supposed to be home! It was supposed to be better!"
Angel walked to her, wrapping her in a hug as she cried. "Hey, hey."
Matt sighed sadly and muttered. "This is just getting worse and worse."
Suddenly, Matt heard Cordelia's heart beat faster and her body shook as he ran to her, and so did Angel, holding her. "Cordy!"
"It's...Tony Stark!" Cordelia said, recovering herself. "He's in a dark spaceship, with some blue robot woman!"
She shook her head as Natasha asked. "What was that?"
"She is sent visions by Higher Powers", Angel told her.
"Oh, okay", Steve nodded as Cordelia recovered herself finally, Matt and Angel supporting her.
"Hey, so that thing stopped whatever the hell it was doing." Rhodes said as he arrived
They followed them to where the pager had been kept as Buffy, Bruce and Logan stood there.
"What do we got?" Steve asked.
"Well, whatever signal it was sending finally crapped out." Bruce said.
"Maybe it's out of power." Logan shrugged.
"I thought we bypassed the battery." Steve said.
"We did. It's still plugged in. It just stopped." Rhodes said.
"The signal it was giving died down." Bruce told them. "It shut off by itself."
"What do we do?" Buffy asked.
Steve was quiet before saying, "Reboot it. Send the signal again."
"Hey, we don't even know what this is." Bruce warned.
"Fury did." Natasha said, pausing for a split second before continuing, "Tell me the second you get a signal. I want to know who's on the other end of this thing."
That moment Matt sensed a presence in the room and just as Natasha turned around, she stopped to see a woman with long blonde hair, wearing a uniform in the same colors as the symbol they saw on the pager. She looked at Natasha and finally asked her question.
"Where's Fury?"
Everyone stared before Buffy held out her hammer and demanded, "Who are you?"
She eyed Buffy and the hammer, unimpressed before saying. "The name's Carol Danvers. People call me Captain Marvel."
"You don't seem all that marvelous", Cordelia quipped as Carol shot her a look but she didn't care.
"Come, we'll tell you everything", Matt said to her, already not liking her due to her attitude.
Later
"And then he snapped and everyone turned to dust." Natasha finished as Carol listened, nodding.
She had told them a bit about her powers and how she had got them along with her backstory with the Kree and Skrulls to explain the symbol on her chest. And recognizing Steve Rogers had made her fangirl due to how much she had looked up at him, to his displeasure and everyone else's amusement.
But now, she was back to business.
"Where is Thanos?" She asked.
"We do not know." Rhodes said, "He escaped after the Snap."
"But there is something else you can do for us." Pepper then said as she and Steve exchanged a look.
"What?" She asked.
"Tony." Steve said. "He's still in space."
"How do I find him?" Carol asked.
"They are trapped in my ship", Rocket told her, having realized it was his ship after Cordelia had described her vision.
"How do I find it?" Carol asked.
Rocket held up a device and said. "This will track the ship's homing beacon. Use this to track it and bring 'em back."
Carol nodded and taking it from him, ran out of the building as the others ran to the window, seeing her fly away.
Much, much later
Deep Space, The Benatar
After the Snap, Tony and Nebula knew there was not much they could do on Titan, so they'd decided to try and get back using the Benatar.
To kill time, Tony and Nebula were playing table football.
Tony managed to suddenly make a goal because Nebula moved her hand from position, still not understanding the game fully.
Tony said, "You don't need to do that, because you're just holding the position."
Nebula then tried to make a goal but missed as Tony said, "Come on. That was close."
Nebula tried a few more times and managed to make a goal.
"That's a goal." Tony said, sounding impressed, "We're now one a-piece."
"I would like to try again." Nebula said as the two played a bit more, neither succeeding in making a goal.
"We're tied up." Tony pointed out, "Feel the tension? It's fun."
Then he tried to make a goal but failed, saying, "That was terrible. Now you have a chance to win."
Nebula then tried to make a goal and actually succeeded.
"And you won." Tony said happily, "Congratulations."
He held out his hand, "Fair game. Good sport. You had fun?"
"It was fun." Nebula said as she shook his hand, happy and grateful to win for once.
1 hour later
Later, Nebula stitched Tony up.
"The infection seems to have run its course." Tony said.
"It has." Nebula told him, "You're no longer at the risk of dying from it."
Tony sighed in relief as he and she exchanged a look.
2 hours later
The fuel cells had been damaged in the Battle of Titan so the two were trying to carry out some repairs and eventually did, having figured out a way to reverse the ion charge.
Tony was on his knees in front of his broken Iron Man mask.
"This thing on?" He wondered as he tapped the mask and clicked on the recorder. It turned itself on.
Seeing that, Tony decided to send a message to the person he loved most. Last time he had done this was when he had been presumed dead after the attack of Aldrich Killian on his home when he had foolishly challenged the terrorist on live TV. This time he wondered if he would actually be dead by the time she got the recording.
"Hey, Miss Potts... Pep." He started weakly, "If you find this recording...don't post it, on social media. It's gonna be a real tear-jerker."
He continued, "I don't know if you're ever gonna see these. I don't even know if you're still...Oh, God. I hope so..."
He trailed off in horror, hoping against hope that she wasn't among the snapped ones. He was trying to survive this only for her. And if he survived this and found out that she was gone, god, what would he do?
"Today is day 11... uh, 12. You know, if it wasn't for the existential terror of staring into the literal void of space, I'd say, I'm feeling more better today. The infection's run its course, thanks to the blue meanie back there." Tony continued his narration, remembering her treating him, "You'd love her. Very practical, only a tiny bit sadistic."
He then remembered repairing the fuel cells of the Benatar with her help as he said, "Some fuel cells were cracked during battle, but we figured out a way to reverse the ion charge to buy ourselves, about, 48 hours of playtime."
His tone then deflated as he revealed the grim truth, "But it's now dead in the water. We're 1,000 lightyears from the nearest 7-11. Oxygen will run out tomorrow morning. That'll be it. And Pep, I...I know I said no more surprises, but I gotta say I was really hoping to pull off one last one."
Tony trailed off, letting the cold and harsh reality sink in for himself, "But it looks like...Well, you know what it looks like."
But while he loved her and knew she loved him, he didn't want her to be tied to him forever if he did lose his life. So in his own special 'Tony Stark' way, he urged her to move on.
"Don't feel bad about this." He said before adding, "I mean actually if you grovel for a couple weeks, and then, move on with enormous guilt."
He imagined her giving a watery chuckle on hearing that. Because it was so him to say that.
"I should probably lie down. Go rest my eyes." He then said as he tried to keep his eyes open to record the last bit of the message, "Please know that...When I drift off, it will be like every night lately...I'm fine, I'm totally fine….I dream about you. Because it's always you."
With that, he knew there was nothing more he could say. If he did die and she did get the recording, she'd probably cry a lot, for which he blamed himself in the moment. And then he shut off the recorder.
He then slowly got up and lay down on the floor as darkness started taking him in the moment.
Nebula was walking by when she found him. Nebula helped him up and gently sat him down on a chair. She patted his back sadly before walking off.
Tony then started slightly waking up as he heard a sonic boom, putting a hand in front of his eyes to shield them from the light.
It was Carol Danvers. She was hovering in the air, emanating light. A smile of relief was on her face.
New York, Hell's Kitchen, Clinton Church
Matt and Cordelia arrived, hand-in-hand. Cordelia noticed there were only about 5 attendees and Matt couldn't hear many heartbeats in the vicinity either, which was to be expected.
The two had gone to the city to find out if any of Matt's friends were alive or not. So far, Matt had been brutally disappointed. Karen Page and Foggy Nelson were both gone, so was Foggy's girlfriend Marci Stahl, as well as Karen's boss Ellison, and Foggy's family too.
Matt just hoped this person wasn't gone. He heard a familiar nun's heartbeat and asked, "Excuse me! Where's Sister Maggie? Can you tell me?"
But Matt knew the answer even before she could say it due to how fast her heart was beating from having to say it. It seemed like she was in a great deal of emotional pain. Her face was sweating too.
"She didn't make it."
That hit Matt like a ton of bricks as he struggled to keep his footing and Cordelia had to support him to a nearby pew as his lip quivered.
"Matt." She said lovingly and sadly as she touched is face, trying to comfort him.
"They're…..all gone." Matt said, and he sounded defeated. He'd just found out there was an actual Devil inside of him, and now he'd lost everyone he cared about. Cordelia hugged him as he sobbed into his ex's shoulder at all of his losses, though he was grateful that she was still there at least.
Avengers Compound
Dawn had gone to sleep, Xander next to her as Buffy arrived and sat down nearby, stroking her sleeping sister's head. "How's she doing?"
"About what you expect", Xander told her.
"I know", Buffy muttered, stroking Dawn's head a bit more lovingly, feeling guilty that she hadn't been there for her. "I'm sorry, Dawnie."
She turned to Xander. "And I'm sorry about Anya too."
Xander gave her a nod of appreciation as he asked. "What do you think Will is doing?"
Buffy sighed, she wanted to find Willow so badly, but there was just no way of finding her known to anyone of them, plus Thanos was still a threat.
"I want to find her, but we have to stop Thanos first", Buffy sighed. "I just hope she doesn't do something dangerous again."
In the washroom, Steve washed his shaver after having shaved his beard clean and was wiping his face. It seemed like an odd move for sure. But it had helped him clear his mind somehow. He'd let it grow out of some doubts in himself and in his mission during the previous year. Even reconciling with Tony hadn't removed the doubts. To be no longer welcomed into his own nation and to be hunted for saving lives had hurt him deeply. He supposed the beard just covered up some of the pain. But now, it just felt overwhelming so he got rid of it.
The image of Bucky and Sam turning to dust were going to haunt him for the rest of his life and knowing that it was half of the Universe was even worse.
As he looked at his face, he saw his image in the mirror shaking as he realized the mirror itself was shaking. Then he felt the shaver he had put away rumbling along with other items, followed by the entire ground rumbling. Something was up.
Outside, Carol Danvers flew down with the Benatar, having lifted it up with her superhuman strength.
Steve, Natasha, Buffy, Angel, Wesley, Gunn, Xander, Clint, Bruce and Rhodes ran out to see Pepper already standing there, looking at the ship with anticipation.
Carol turned to look at the others as the ramp opened and out staggered Tony with Nebula supporting him.
Steve was there first, supporting Tony by putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Couldn't stop him." Tony told Steve regretfully.
"Neither could I." Steve told him solemnly as he started supporting him away.
Tony looked at Steve and sadly said, "I lost against him."
Steve looked back at him and emphasized, "Tony, we lost."
"Is, umm..." Tony trailed off as he asked Steve.
"Oh, my God!"
He turned to see Pepper standing there with relieved tears in her eyes.
She hugged him tightly as he hugged back, "It's okay."
"Oh, my God!" She said again in relief as they then parted and he kissed her cheek while Steve watched. She started supporting him away with Steve's help.
Rocket waked to the Benatar where Nebula was sitting and sat next to her, both their heads lowered in sadness. They eventually held hands, mourning the loss of their dead team. No, not team. Family.
Later
The remaining Avengers, Scoobies and Team Angel stood together in the briefing room, giving each other information. Matt was back with Cordelia, still in his suit, and still feeling defeated, but he decided to help out right now since it'd be needed. Carol now wore a black tank top and jeans.
Tony was on a wheelchair and a drip with a medicine was attached to his vein.
Fred was curled up in a corner again, muttering to herself.
Holograms of the dead people were shown as well.
Steve and Natasha winced on seeing the pictures of Bucky and Wilson, trying not to break down in the moment.
Thor was sitting in a corner and looking down in shame so he didn't even look up when Erik's picture was displayed.
Buffy and Xander had tears on noticing Peter's, Giles', Tara's and Anya's pictures as Angel gave Buffy a hug for comfort.
"It's been 11 days since Thanos came to Earth." Rhodes explained as pictures of Wanda and Hope van Dyne were shown. Clint flinched on seeing Wanda's picture and had to open and close his eyes a few times to stop himself from breaking down at the loss of her and his family.
"World governments are in pieces." Natasha said as Angel, Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn winced on seeing Foggy's and Karen's pictures, though Matt couldn't as he couldn't see that. "The parts that are still working are trying to take a census. And it looks like he did... He did exactly what he said he was gonna do."
As Carol winced on seeing Fury's picture among the dead ones Natasha said. "Thanos wiped out...fifty percent of all living creatures."
"Where is he now?" Tony asked, "Where?"
"We don't know." Steve said, "He just opened a portal and walked through."
Tony looked at Thor who was sitting guiltily in a corner and asked, "What's wrong with him?"
"He's pissed." Rocket popped up, "He thinks he failed. Which of course he did, but there's a lot of that goin' around, ain't there?"
"Honestly, until this exact second, I thought you were a Build-A-Bear." Tony said to him.
"Maybe I am." Rocket said in reply.
"And what's up with her?" Tony asked as he pointed at Fred.
"5 years in a Dimension where humans are used as beasts of burden and called 'cows'", Gunn told him.
"Right", Tony said to himself, deciding not to say anything to her.
"We've been hunting Thanos for almost two weeks now." Steve said. "Deep space scans, and satellites, and we got nothing."
"Is there any way to reach this guy?" Angel asked.
"How do we find him?" Buffy wondered.
"You'll have to."
Everyone turned to see who had said it and the Avengers were clearly shocked on seeing who had come.
"Phil?" Tony whispered in shock. In front of them was Phil Coulson, with a grim smile on his face. And with him was a dark-skinned man, a medium heighted British woman with reddish hair, a Scottish man of medium height and a tall blonde woman.
Natasha and Clint immediately recognized her.
"Bobbi?" Clint asked.
"Clint." She said and both he and Natasha noted that her voice was missing of its normal energy.
"Son of Coul…you're alive!" Thor shot out of where he was and hugged Coulson tightly, "I thought Loki had killed you."
"Let me go or you just might." Coulson groaned and Thor let him go with a sheepish look on his face.
"This is Mack. And these are Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons." Bobbi introduced as she pointed at the three.
"It's an honor to meet you guys." Mack said, "Though I wish the circumstances could have been better."
"You guys some forgotten circus?" Cordelia asked and was shot looks so she shut up.
"Nat. Clint." Coulson breathed as he looked at Natasha and Clint and then nodded at Steve.
"How is this possible?" Steve asked as he overcame his shock, "We all thought you were dead."
"And he was." Fitz said, "Until Project TAHITI."
"Wasn't that just to modify memories?" Clint asked.
"Oh it was just for cover." Coulson said as all looked at him, "The true purpose was to revive a fallen Avenger. I was one of the test subjects. It worked on me, but the others had suffered mental breakdowns and were carving alien symbols into whatever surface they could find, insisting they 'needed to know.' We had to erase their memories and give them new lives."
"And this experiment was done to you as well?" Wesley asked and he nodded.
"Sir experienced the same symptoms so Fury had the doctors erase his memories after Loki murdered him." Jemma explained.
"But they only erased a small portion." Coulson said.
"You look fine." Bruce pointed out.
"I wasn't always." Coulson said, remembering, "My symptoms came back with a vengeance but I managed to get better later."
"And Fury never told us?" Tony asked and Coulson nodded sadly as Tony growled, "He's lucky he got snapped too."
"Oh he really is." Pepper snarled with clenched fists and all dreaded what she would do to Fury if he was here.
"We had a right to know." Natasha said gruffly.
"Both of you lied to us!" Clint snapped as Coulson looked at him with guilt on his face, "We trusted you and you liked to us for 6 goddamn years!"
"You're right. I did. Even though you had the right to know." Coulson admitted as he looked at Steve, Tony, Thor, Natasha, Clint and Pepper with guilt and sadness on his face, "At first I was going through a life changing experience and then tracking down threats to SHIELD. Then the Hydra uprising happened, followed by the Inhuman outbreak, Hive, and what not. Eventually, I realized I was too much of a coward to face you guys after this long. And for that, I'm sorry."
All listened to him and nodded at his apology, though they were not fully convinced.
Coulson then suddenly noticed Fred in the corner and Gunn, and so did Fitz, Simmons and Mack.
"Simmons."
"Yes, sir?"
"Hallucinations aren't uncommon among dying people, are they?"
"Sir, I see her too", Fitz told him.
"What's the matter?" Angel asked, looking between Fred and Coulson.
"Audrey", Coulson muttered, walking to her, thinking she was her.
"Hey, relax buddy, she's not who you think he is", Angel said, gently stopping him, realizing it was the same case as his team and Clint.
"Oh, she looks exactly like my ex", Coulson said as Fred shot him a confused look.
"Ex, I have a doppelganger here, interesting", she muttered to herself as she curled up again.
"So, you are not Mike Peterson, are you?" Jemma asked Gunn.
"Never heard of 'em", Gunn shrugged.
"Right, so we've got doppelgangers now", Mack commented.
"This is getting creepy", Cordelia said.
"Tell me about it", Gunn said to her. "Especially when you're the doppelganger."
Then suddenly Coulson put a hand to his chest, his face contorted in pain.
"What is it, Son of Coul?" Thor asked as all stared in concern.
"Get him to the med bay!" Mack ordered as Simmons and Bobbi grabbed Coulson and started leading him away with Wesley helping them.
"What's wrong with him?" Buffy asked.
"It's a recent development." Mack said as all turned to him.
"What is?" Steve asked.
"He is dying." Fitz revealed to the shock of everyone in the room, "And no one can save him."
Later
"You're going to be alright, sir." Fitz said as he and Simmons were at Coulson's bed, their eyes getting wet. "We can help you-"
"There's no helping me anymore, Fitz." Coulson said, smiling at Fitz and Simmons. "For what it's worth… I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you both. In many ways… you've shown me what it's like to have children. I was the one, who'd always look out for you all, in many ways… you were like my family."
"Yes. You are the one who brought us all together." Jemma said, sniffing.
"We all know I won't be around for long now… so promise me that you'll look out for each other from now on. And whatever happens… never let go of each other, ever again." Coulson said.
"We won't." Simmons nodded.
"Promise." Fitz nodded.
"I never thought this day would ever come… my last moments with people I love… my friends… my family." Coulson looked around and eyed Bobbi and the remaining Avengers and Pepper. "It was good to see you again, Bobbi."
"Same here, sir, just wish the circumstance were better", Bobbi said with watery eyes.
Coulson then pointed at Mack to lean towards him as Coulson neared Mack's ear. "I know that S.H.I.E.L.D. is not what it was anymore now but… you're the director now, Mack." Mack raised his brows in shock.
"Sir, I-"
"You're a good man, Mack. And I know you can make the hard calls. Do better than I ever could. Do better…" Coulson whispered lowly.
"I… I promise, sir." Mack nodded as he got up.
Coulson then turned to Natasha, Thor, Steve and Pepper. "It's been a wild ride, hasn't it?"
"It sure has." Steve nodded, putting the signed Captain America cards near Coulson now. "Here."
"Thank you…." Coulson trailed off, looking at Steve with grateful eyes as he gave him a smile.
"For what it's worth… I'm sorry. I'm sorry I never told anyone one of you I was alive. I had convinced myself that you would do better believing I was dead but… I was a coward." Coulson said. "Too big of a coward to… face the truth."
Pepper, Steve, Bruce, Natasha and Thor felt touched. None of them were happy about it but they understood.
"It's OK, Phil." Pepper said as she held Coulson's hand before he turned to Thor.
"It… it wasn't your fault." Coulson said weakly as Thor's brows raised. "You… you couldn't have known Loki would trick us again."
"I should've learned from my mistakes." Thor said. "If I had-"
"Dwelling on what you could've done… it will only cause you more pain than my death already has." Coulson said weakly and they knew he was not going to last long.
He then looked at Fred and said. "I know…..you're not her…but I still feel better seeing you in my last moments."
Fred just gave a nervous smile and waved at him.
When Tony came to, the Avengers, Bobbi, Fitz, Simmons, Mack and even the Scoobies and Team Angel were in the room with him as he lied on the stretcher, wires attached to him and the medical monitors before he turned his head to see next to him Coulson dying.
"Hey, Tony." Coulson smiled weakly.
"Phil…" Tony turned to him.
"Don't… let your ego… ever… let the better of you…again….." Coulson said and then, the heart monitor flat-lined as Coulson closed his eyes and everyone felt their eyes get wet, mourning for Coulson.
Spike entered a dark cave. He slowed down. It was almost completely black. He flicked open his lighter, revealing paintings on the cave walls. Images of people's faces in pain, bodies with blood pouring out of them, skulls.
Spike looked at them, a little nervous. More paintings. One depicted a black figure holding out an arm toward another figure, which was red and dripping blood. A breeze blew out the lighter. Spike looked at it, slowly flicked it closed and continued into the cave.
Then a deep gravelly voice spoke.
"You seek me, vampire?"
Spike looked nervous, but covered it. "You do the finger paintings? Nice work. Was afraid you got dusted, because then this would have been all for nothing. Must be my lucky day."
There was a demon in the darkness, but all that could be seen was an indistinct shape and a pair of green glowing eyes.
"Answer me."
"Yeah. I seek you."
The Demon spoke. "Something about a woman. The Slayer."
Spike nodded, with barely concealed anger. "Thinks she's better than me. Ever since I got this bleeding chip in my head, things ain't been right. Everything's gone to hell."
"And you want to return to your former self."
"Yeah."
There was an evil laugh.
"What?" Spike asked, annoyed.
"Look what she's reduced you to."
Spike started. "It's this bloody chip-"
"You were a legendary dark warrior, and you let yourself be castrated." Spike looked angry. "And you have the audacity to crawl in here and demand restoration?"
Spike spoke up. "I'm still a warrior."
"You're a pathetic excuse for a demon."
"Yeah?" Spike asked angrily. "I'll show you pathetic. Give me your best shot."
"You'd never endure the trials required to grant your request."
Spike challenged. "Do your worst. But when I win ... I want what I came here for."
The demon watched him, breathing loudly but said nothing.
"Bitch is gonna see a change."
Same time, Sunnydale
Willow lay in a meditative position, some ingredients laid out in front of her. She could feel a huge rise in her power, and that was before she had gotten the power from these books.
When she'd touched the Gauntlet, she had tried foolishly absorb its power into her to stop Thanos. She had only absorbed the barest minimum power of the Power, Soul and Space Stones, only the barest minimum, but even that had been enough to boost her by a lot.
It didn't do anything for her sanity though.
"Light my way, show me the path, do not lead me astray", Willow chanted as the ingredients lighted up and started swirling.
And we're done.
RIP Coulson. Thank you to Bl4ckHunter for letting me use the Coulson scenes from his 'All for one' fic.
In case anyone hasn't seen Agents of SHIELD, Amy Acker played Audrey Nathan in one episode, and she was confirmed to be Coulson's cellist girlfriend mentioned by Tony in 'The Avengers', while J. August Richards played Mike Peterson aka Deathlok in the first 2 Seasons and 5x12.
Spike's now gonna do what you all think he's gonna do, while Willow has gone dark, and yes, she absorbed the very barest minimum power of 3 Stones (only really minimal, think of the lowest fraction you can think of, and that'd be it) but even that boosted her by a lot, and is making her crazy, since she can't absorb Giles' coven magic in this.
Anyway, hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter. Stay safe from the coronavirus ya all!